Nicotine is neuroprotective when administered before but not after nigrostriatal damage in rats and monkeys.

@article{Huang2009NicotineIN,
title={Nicotine is neuroprotective when administered before but not after nigrostriatal damage in rats and monkeys.},
author={Luping Z Huang and Neeraja Parameswaran and Tanuja Bordia and J Michael McIntosh and Maryka Quik},
journal={Journal of neurochemistry},
year={2009},
volume={109 3},
pages={826-37}
}

Nicotine reduces dopaminergic deficits in parkinsonian animals when administered before nigrostriatal damage. Here we tested whether nicotine is also beneficial when given to rats and monkeys with pre-existing nigrostriatal damage. Rats were administered nicotine before and after a unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesion of the medial forebrain bundle, and the results compared with those in which rats received nicotine only after lesioning. Nicotine pre-treatment attenuated behavioral deficits and… CONTINUE READING